Tesco Appoints First Group Digital Officer

Tesco has appointed Blinkbox founder Michael Cornish to the newly created role of group digital officer.

Cornish, previously chief executive of Tesco's digital entertainment, will oversea Tesco's multi-channel strategy and draw-up a customer-led approach to products and services.

Tesco acquired Blinkbox in 2011 and Cornish will continue to head the online books and music services following the grocer's purchases of We7 and Mobcast last year. But he will now share the responsibilities of chief marketing officer Matt Atkinson who was previously the most senior digital executive at the firm.

Cornish and his team of about 150 staff are based in Tesco's new central London 'digital campus' in Shoreditch which will open this Autumn.

In November, Tesco rebranded all its digital entertainment platforms under the Blinkbox name.

Earlier this year Tesco appointed Sainsbury's head of digital and cross-channel at rival Sainsbury's Mark Bennett to take the role of managing director of Blinkboxmusic, which was created following the acquisition of We7 in June last year. Gavin Sathianathan, Facebook's head of retailer for Europe, Middle East and Africa, was appointed managing director for Blinkboxbooks - created last year following the acquisition of Mobcast in September.